Friends in Unholy Spaces
by ElliottsCoven
Summary: Time can be rewritten. After Shax attacks the Halliwell sisters, Piper lies dead and the remaining sisters are forced to face a new evil, Leo Wyatt. First story so be nice! This story works in canon to the series. UPDATES EVERY WEDNESDAY.
1. Mourning

**Synopsis**

When Prue and Piper are fatally injured, Leo had time to save only one. However, his deal with the Elders meant that he had to save Prue and not Piper. With a hatred for the Elders and revenge in his heart Leo becomes a rogue darklighter with the goal of killing the remaining Elders and an innocent that the Source needs alive. In order to set things right, Prue, Phoebe and Cole team up and work with the Source to set Leo back on his correct destiny, using the help of someone they all believed to be dead.

Sacrifices must be made.

Innocents must be saved.

Magic must be preserved.

Leo Wyatt must be stopped.

**Mourning**

Phoebe's hands trembled as she flicked through the pages of the Book of Shadows, she was certain that there must be a spell to undo what had been done. She had tried everything but there was no way of changing the facts. Piper was dead and there was no bringing her back.

She couldn't explain to Prue what had happened and why they had both survived Shax' attack, she couldn't bring herself to admit that she knew what had happened and that she was the cause of it. With a sigh of defeat she closed the book and felt the insulting burn of the triquetra, a constant reminder of how they were no longer the power of three.

The room was briefly illuminated by a bright azure light as Leo orbed into the room. It had been two days since the attack and since she had last seen him, she had no idea what she would say to him if he ever returned. She turned around and saw his sunken grey eyes and haggard face. This angel had fallen from so high to become this empty shell of a man.

"I wasn't sure if you'd come back, Leo." Phoebe said softly.

"I'm your whitelighter, of course I came back" his voice was shaky but he managed to force a half smile.

"She was your wife. How could you let her die?" as the words came out of her mouth she could feel the poison on them, it was too late. She was saying what she truly felt. Either way she would have lost a sister and she knew that, but why Piper?

"I can only heal the living, Phoebe."

"And they were both alive." She said with her eyes fixed on the triquetra.

"When I orbed back to the surface they were both near death. It was a part of my agreement when I was allowed to be married to Piper that if a situation like that occurred, I would heal the strongest witch. That was Prue. It breaks my heart to say it, but I made a vow to the Elders that my marriage to Piper would not affect the work."

"This isn't about work, Leo. We're family. You, me, Prue…. Piper. This stopped being work the minute you two got married."

"Do you think I'm happy with what happened? I'm still your whitelighter first and your brother-in-law second. Healing Prue was the best choice for you to continue your destiny."

"I'm sorry, Leo." Phoebe walked over to Leo and held him close to her, after he'd spent so much time with Piper they began to smell similar, the scent of his flannel shirt reminded her of her fallen sister. She smiled for the first time in two days.

"What does Prue know?" Leo asked.

"Nothing. How do I even begin to tell my sister that the deal I made with the Source meant that I wasn't there to protect them when we went back in time. I should have known that he'd betray me. I mean, either way, we lost Piper. In both futures, I saw her die."

"No, Phoebe, we both watched her die. And that's something we'll have to live with, why do we have to tell Prue?"

"Leo, she's my sister! I can't lie to her. I mean, the only reason I remember was because I was down there with Cole."

"You've lost one sister already. Do you want to lose another one?"

Phoebe let go of Leo and walked over to the book once more. She ran her fingers along the dark insignia on the front of the emerald green book. She knew could never tell Prue what had really happened.

"What will you do now, Leo? I mean… you being here is a constant reminder." Phoebe wiped the tears from her eyes and sat down next to the book.

"I feel the same way, but I don't think I can abandon my charge."

"This isn't about the work anymore. We aren't your charges anymore. We aren't the Charmed ones anymore."

"You're right. I need to leave for good. No more charges." Phoebe felt something in his voice, a certain venom in it that she had never heard before. Leo agreeing to leave them had set something in motion and Phoebe could sense it. "I'm not going back to the Elders. I'm not clipping my wings." Leo's voice began to raise. "This is their fault. Piper is dead because of them, Piper's life was hell because of them. "

"Calm down, please. You're scaring me. I don't want you to be on your own."

"I am now. I don't work for the Elders."

"Leo, you can't save innocents without the Elder's information."

"Saving innocents? I have a new task now."

"Leo..?"

Before she could say anything more he was gone, his body faded into orbs and disappeared. Phoebe was stunned, frozen on the chair.

"Are you okay?" asked Prue, who had appeared in the attic doorway.

"Leo orbed out…"

"Leo?"

"He had black orbs, Prue."


	2. The Power of Two Again

**The Power of Two... Again.**

"Pheobe, I've looked twice. There's nothing in here about Whitelighters turning into Darklighters." Prue said violently flicking through the book.

"This is the sort of time where our Whitelighter would orb in and fill in the blanks!" Phoebe replied. It made her sick in a way, that their sister had died two days ago and that they were still stood at the Book of Shadows finding a way to fight evil, as if it were just another normal day.

"What do we know about Darklighters? Is there any way that Leo could have changed."

"No, as far as I'm aware, Whitelighters can't change. But maybe it was something to do with abandoning a charge." Phoebe said whilst looking over her sister's shoulders.

"Abandoning a charge? He didn't abandon Piper, she died because he couldn't heal her." There was a short moment of silence, it became real to them that she was gone. Here they were, the Power of Two.

"He didn't abandon Piper. I suggested that we part ways, and when he agreed… I don't know. Something changed within him, I could sense it. Something snapped and he said that he had a new task."

"We need to find out what is going on and what we need to do here. I don't want to have to vanquish Leo, so please go to the Mausoleum and see if Cole knows anything about Darklighters." Phoebe was thankful to Prue's levelheadedness, without Prue she didn't know how she would survive.

After she had said her goodbyes, Phoebe took Prue's car down to the cemetery. It dawned on her that it had also been two days since she had spoken to Cole or even thought about what had happened whilst they were together with the Source. When Tempus reversed time, the Source had arranged for Phoebe to be captured, it was thanks to Cole that she managed to escape in time to chase Shax away, but the Source had betrayed her. He lied to her, and it was thanks to him that Piper was dead.

As she descended the steps she thought of how she would feel. How his dark eyes would comfort her as she looked into them. How his smile would warm her heart. How his touch would make her feel safe. As he shimmered into the room, she still felt cold and vulnerable.

"Phoebe, I'm sorry. I never thought that this would…"

"What's done is done, Cole. I can mourn later. For now I need to know everything about Darklighters that isn't in the Book of Shadows. What happens when a Whitelighter abandons his charge?"

"Whitelighters can't abandon their charge. Well, they can if a decision is made in their heart. If a Whitelighter has reason to leave their charge and does not clip their wings, it is possible for a Whitelighter to become a Darklighter. If they are created in this way, they are not officially initiated until they have stolen a Darkligher Crossbow from an existing Darklighter."Cole furrowed his brow and looked into Phoebe's eyes. "It's Leo isn't it. He's turning."

"Leo already has a Darklighter Crossbow… A few years ago, when the three of us vanquished Alec, Leo retrieved the crossbow to tie off loose ends and took it with him. Does that mean it's too late?"

"With that bow and his experience as a Whitelighter, he might be able to get to the Elders and kill them all before they can stop him!" Cole skin flashed red for a split second, Phoebe could tell that even he was worried. "Darklighters formed in that way have a short amount of time where they can still orb up there. Chances are we're too late."

"What do we do now, Cole." Her voice was shaking and her eyes were filled with tears. "Without a Whitelighter, you have to be our guide."

"I think there is only one thing that we can do. There is one person that can help us, and will help us, as Leo with his combined and growing powers will be able to vanquish him. We need to locate The Source."


	3. The Price of Protection

**The Price of Protection**

Prudence Halliwell was the eldest sibling. It had always fallen to her to protect her sister even when they were apart. She thought to herself about what could have been done to save Piper, but there was a small thought in the back of her mind. Something that she hadn't considered. When Shax came into the house, they were defenceless. There was no power of three to save them, because Phoebe wasn't there. In the heat of the moment and struck with the grief of losing her sister, Prue had overlooked the fact that her sister must have heard the commotion going on downstairs, but didn't attempt to stop Shax.

Blue orbs faded into view.

At first, Prue was startled. Worried that Leo had returned in his new form, she focused on the boxes against the attic wall, ready to throw them at him should she need to.

As the lights formed, an aging woman appeared. For a moment she resembled their grandmother, but as Prue looked closer she had much darker features and lacked her friendly face. This woman was stern looking and wore her ebony hair up in a tight clump.

"Quite the mess you've made." She said. Prue valued the importance of first impressions. This woman clearly didn't.

"Excuse me?" Prue replied.

"Thanks to you the Whitelighter population has diminished. When a speck of darkness gets into our world, you can have all the light available but it won't extinguish it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Leo Wyatt has acquired a Darklighter Crossbow and has brutally murdered a large amount of the people protecting this world. You've put everyone at risk."

"Me? I lost my sister, and now Leo has gone crazy. I haven't had the chance to mourn, let alone poison the mind of my brother in law."

"Well, its up to you to put it right." She said running her hand along the book of shadows.

"What do we do? How can we stop him?"

"Its not a case of stopping him. It's a case of putting things right. You need to go back in time and kill Leo before he turns."

"But Tempus was vanquished."

"Not vanquished. Defeated. There must be some way to summon him."

"Who's this?" Phoebe said walking into the room.

"My name is Marie. I'm your clean up crew. Or what's left of it."

"Nice to meet you." She sighed. "Prue, I think we need to talk about something."

"We don't have time Phoebe." Prue said turning the Book of Shadows to Tempus' page. "We need to find a way to summon Tempus."

"You can't" Phoebe said.

"He's not vanquished," said Marie smugly, "He's…"

"Dead. For good," Phoebe interrupted. "I knew he was alive. I changed things once before and it killed him."

"What?!" Prue exclaimed.

"I had no choice. Piper was dead and I thought it could save her. Also, we were exposed and I had to go back and stop us from being found out."

"Wait, so you went back in time and still failed to save Piper?"

"Yes and no. Piper died in a different way the second time. We vanquished Shax the first time. The second time…."

"Yes?"

"Part of the source's agreement…"

"THE SOURCE?!" Prue interrupted.

"Part of the source's agreement was that I stay in the Underworld, and so I wasn't there to stop Shax when he came to the manor. I know. Piper's death is my fault but given the choice between losing her and being exposed or putting her blood on my hands and protecting both of us, I'd make the same choice again."

"Who are you? Making secret deals with the source. Going behind our backs." Prue's words were filled with venom. But Phoebe swallowed her tears and carried on speaking.

"I remember it because I was protected. Yes, we never discussed it but I thought I'd forget too. But I remember all of it. The Source said that it would be my curse to know that I caused whatever happened next. But to keep you and I hidden, I accept my curse."

"It turned Leo against the Whitelighters… and now we can't go back and change it."

Cole burst into the room holding in his hand a note.

"The Source wants to speak to you. He said its urgent, and you are both safe to enter the Underworld." He said.

"What does the source want with us in the Underworld?"

"Help."


End file.
